1st June: Day 42 – Mile 731
Get up to around 10,500ft. Ice axe, bear canister, crampons, 10 days of food – my bag is heavy. It is also old – at least 2,200 miles on it. A bit of the strap snaps. But I can’t work out what that bit did, so assume it’s fine.
2nd June: Day 43 – Mile 750
I reach a pass at 11,000ft and decide to camp, as there’s some bare ground. The trail goes higher after this and I’d have to camp on snow, which isn’t fun.
I catch Ramble’s group here, which I thought I might join, but they’ve now decided to come off trail at this pass. Back to thinking about whether hiking on my own is sensible.
Then a guy appears and asks if anyone wants to hike with him tomorrow. On paper, this guy is a maniac. He’s walked 30 miles a day for a month, he has no real tent, no phone, no gps, no head torch, no watch.
I say yes. I think maybe I will save this guy’s life if I go with him. His name is 13, and the reality is closer to the other way around.
Twin Hilleberg Enans – what are the chances. This kind of dream won’t happen again until I meet another Swiss hiker (Ent) in Northern California
Ramble and Short Sticks on the left, the Swiss on the right.
3rd June: Day 44 – Mile 766
13 and I convince each other it’s a good idea to go off trail to summit Mt Whitney, the highest mountain in the lower 48.
On our way, we hear tell of a guy who has climbed it before, and planning to do it now on his own. We join up with him, grateful for his experience and knowledge.
He makes a lot of this experience and knowledge in conversation, and has some quite intricate predictions about the next day’s weather, consistency of snow etc, some of which seem beyond the current ability of modern science.
Me: out of interest, how much snow experience do you actually have?
Him: 3 days
Me: does that include the 2 days we’ve done to get here?
Him: yes
Me: right.
He also mentions he is terrified of heights… what could go wrong?
We set up camp close to the start of the ascent, ready to get up in the night to make the attempt.
4th June: Day 45 – Mile 778
Short version: failed attempt on Mt Whitney. Maybe my mistake.
Long version:
We didn’t know if it was possible in this much snow, so my first question was: What would The Swiss do?
We didn’t know if it was possible in this much snow, so my first question was: What would The Swiss do?
Theologically relatively easy to answer: The Swiss, unlike Jesus, were camping an hour back on the ascent trail, unsure whether or not they’d do it, depending on conditions – so we just had to wait to see if they went.
However, when we hadn’t seen them by 3am, we thought maybe we’d missed them in the dark, so we headed out. I felt more confident when we saw their head torches far off, up on the side of the mountain – though later we would find out that the Swiss had actually decided against going up, and these lights were probably climbers going up by the mountaineer’s route.
Basically, it was an unusually warm night, the snow was already soft at 3am, snow covered the switchbacks, so you could only go straight up the steep side, but the deep snow fell away beneath every step. Our companion looked unnerved and kept falling down. He said he couldn’t go much further.
I thought it was clear he was going to have to turn back. I thought one of us had to go with him – he seemed to have lost his sense of balance, and it wouldn’t take much to slide straight off this. 13 went with a team decision and we all went back – though I’m pretty confident this is the first time he’s turned back from anything.
It only took half an hour to get back to a safer bit and, in retrospect, I wish I’d said we would stay and just watch him to check he got passed the dangerous bit, then we could have carried on and seen how much further we could have got.
Ah well. We rejoined the PCT, and on the way our companion told us about his even more experienced and knowledgeable friend. We were lucky to meet him at 12,000ft, at the base of Forester Pass, where he explained with the trademark confidence of kids on the PCT that wet socks dry off if you put them on your body in your sleeping bag, because the water is absorbed through your skin.
13 and I – the decision to turn back has been made.
On the way to Forrester Pass.
12,000ft – the base of Forester Pass, with 13 and The Swiss, and others.
5th and 6th June: Day 46 & 47 – Mile 789
Over Forester Pass, the highest point of the PCT at 13,200ft. 11 trail miles and then 7 non-trail miles and over Kearsage pass, to get to a trailhead, then a 12 mile hitch, and a 40 mile bus journey.
I’ve completely pointlessly carried 5 extra days of food – my plan was to avoid this detour and go straight through to Vermillion Valley Resort, the only resupply point actually in the Sierra – I’d posted 10 days of food there. But 13 didn’t quite have the food, and anyway thought his friend (from before the trail, but also happened to be thru-hiking this year) was in Bishop and he wanted to visit her.
Arranging to meet a non-hiker on the PCT is a huge nightmare due to the uncertainties of logistics, timing and phone signal, so the idea of two thru-hikers meeting up, one of whom does not have a phone at all, is basically ludicrous.
Illustrated by the fact that the plan involves 13 asking people randomly, at 10,000ft and a good 55 miles from Bishop, whether they know his friend. On the upside, they do – turns out everyone stays in the same hostel in Bishop, and she is very memorable because she is French, has been there 8 days, and has black toes from frostbite (her trail name was now ‘tippy toes’).
She, like 13, is impressive bordering on insanity – she was told to take 6 months off or risk losing her toes, but she will wait only another week or two and then go on to complete the remaining 1,900 miles. And I’ll see her again in 500 miles.
Me at the top of Forrester Pass.
13 at the top of Forrester Pass
I didn’t take a photo going up the pass, but this is a photo from a group a few weeks before, to give an impression of what’s involved. I’m 99% sure this photo belongs to Schoolbus – but I can’t see it on his instagram page. I’ll await the lawsuit.
7th June: Day 48 – Mile 802
Known to others as The Group of 15 (bit odd as there were 16 of them), known to themselves as The Track Team, we overtook this multi-headed behemoth going up Glen Pass.
We had got a ride up to the trailhead with them the day before – while we couldn’t find anyone to give us a lift, for some reason the group of young girls could.
The logistics of trying to make progress in a group that size terrifies us, but they seem happy and I’ll still hear of some of them being together all the way to Washington.
The day ends dropping down below the snow line for a bit. We take a break and Grasshopper catches up and decides to join us – our Sierra team is complete.
(And now I can add Grasshopper’s much better photos to mine)
Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).
I think the other side of Glen Pass – some hikers coming down at the top
13 was made to walk very very slowly behind some people, when he tried to overtake they told him to get back ‘this thing is going to slide any minute’ (it wasn’t).
8th June: Day 49 – Mile 816
It’s all mountain pass strategy now. You need to get over while the snow is hard – but can you get over two before the heat of the day means the snow is too soft?
We start in the dark and get through Pinchot pass but are too late to do Mather as well.
Nice afternoon waiting in the sun. We’re entertained by 13’s sort of quizzical look of ‘so this is what sitting around not hiking is like’
Collecting water from under the snow
Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).
Camped at the base of Mather Pass – waiting for the snow to harden again
Mather Pass
9th June: Day 50 – Mile 837
Mather Pass. This is the scariest, but it’s not as easy to get a scary photo as for Forester. You climb up a mixture of snow, and then rock (difficult in crampons) and then snow again, and then traverse across on a very steep angle, with a drop that goes down a long long way.
Anyway, through that and on to Muir pass – but get stopped at 11,000ft by soft snow and cowboy camp on a wide bit of bare rock to start again at 3am.
It’s here we do some hard thinking about logistics. We were heading to VVR where I had a resupply package transported in, that would get us to Mammoth. But we think between us we have enough food to get to Mammoth without it, and can just press on. Grasshopper gives me a load of his food and we’re set.
My plan is all worked out around getting to Sonora Pass (the end of the high Sierra) by 26th June to meet Team America – we’re now way ahead of that. I think at this point the plan might have been that I would stay in Mammoth while the others continued, to take up the slack for hitting Sonora pass on 26th. The events of the next couple of days will make me rethink that though, from a not dying perspective.
Mather Pass – almost there…
Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).
Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).
10th June: Day 51 – Mile 862
It’s river crossings, not mountain passes, we’re worried about now. There are two always considered high risk – Evolution and Bear – and two more where people died in the last high snow year (2017) – the south fork of the Kings river, and Rancheria.
Evolution Creek today – we cross in a group of five, no problem. Bear Creek, tomorrow, will not be so straight forward.
The long slog up Muir Pass & Muir Hut at the top of the pass – 12,000ft.
11th June: Day 52 – Mile 881
Short version: Bear creek gets me.
Long version:
The flow looks fast from the bank.
Lefty, Coach and Spicy Bite ask to cross with us (me, 13, grasshopper) as they’re worried.
We go as a 6, but co-ordination is difficult and the current breaks the line.
Everyone goes down except Grasshopper – who holds on to the other 3 on his own, and gets them across.
13 goes down but manages to get back up and across.
I’m swept away completely – maybe 200 feet down and have to swim out. This is difficult because a) I’ve been spun around a few times b) I’m carrying a full pack + axe + trekking pole in each hand c) it is ice cold meltwater.
I make it out, but only to the bank I started on, and I can feel I must have bashed my left knee into a rock while swimming (not something I noticed when it happened due to the cold).
I need to get across on my own now. But 13 and Grasshopper come back in as far as they can from the other side, holding out a branch – I hold on to one end in the current, but by this point I can’t feel my hands, I can’t grip properly and I get swept down again – but with a bit of swing from the branch, and some more swimming I make it to the far bank. When I get out I can feel I’ve bashed my right knee into some more rocks.
I suggest carrying straight on to warm up, but am persuaded to change out of my clothes etc, by which point I am maybe in a bit of trouble cold-wise – sure I was basically fine, but Lefty, Coach, Spicy Bite and Eleven do a lot for me, giving me a warm sleeping bag, hot chocolate – my leg is bleeding and Eleven and Lefty have actual first aid stuff to apply to it (my first aid kit is basically just a roll of tape).
Lefty and Coach are very apologetic for what happened and will still be feeling bad about it when I next see them again in 1000 miles or so (not that they had anything to be apologetic about). After today, they actually get out of the Sierra and skip forward to avoid the creeks (at least, that’s what I thought Eleven told me – don’t remember actually discussing it with them).
The rest of the day is difficult, my legs don’t move properly, but the real problem is some kind of groin strain, which is agony and has taken the strength out of my right leg, so I keep falling over when it slides sideways in the snow – this is unhelpful getting down from Bear Ridge, which would have been pretty dicey anyway. (I’ll be in various amounts of pain from this until I’m completely out of the snow – luckily that’s only 300 miles from here…)
13 offers to go to VVR with me if I can’t carry on (which is a big deal as he’s trying to do the whole thing in 100 days and that would slow him up). But we keep going and make it another 12 miles from Bear Creek, with another couple of tricky crossings. The last one looks like certain death if you went in – we cross balancing on a log, and I have to admit I‘m starting to lose my nerve at this point – glad to make it across and stop for the day.
There’s a girl crying into the night at camp – we find out why tomorrow. (Note: she’s fine and everything works out).
Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).
Bear Creek aftermath, from left to right: 13 doing some kind of dance routine to warm up presumably, me wrapped in other people’s stuff, Lefty feeling guilty, Coach feeling less guilty.
Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).
The bad right knee
The good left knee (a few days later)
12th June: Day 53 – Mile 903
The day starts with a crossing that consists of a waterfall falling on to the trail and then falling straight off the trail in another waterfall. Which doesn’t seem ideal health and safety-wise.
At least it is better than it would have been last night at peak melt flow
Last night a couple tried to cross it – the guy got across but the girl was too scared to follow. Then the guy was too scared to come back, so they were separated. This was why the girl was crying at camp it turns out.
Not knowing her name, I refer to her as annoying Canadian girl (not to her face.. not while she’s crying at least). We find the guy on the other side later that morning looking a bit forlorn.
Anyway, later they both catch up with us as happy and annoying as ever.
After 22 miles, we cowboy camp on the patch of snow free ground around a tree trunk. Walking off trail to get down into Mammoth tomorrow for resupply and the highest calorie burger on the menu!
General safety tip: send 13 in first and see if he survives
Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).
13th June: Day 54 – Mile 903
End of the Sierra, Part 1: Resupply at Mammoth
There’s some debate here. Basically every other hiker takes at least a night off in Mammoth. I would do this normally, and especially this time as I’m a bit broken. At one point I was going to wait here for a few days because of meeting Team America at Sonora Pass on the 26th.
However, 13 and Grasshopper don’t believe in stopping, they want to just walk in, resupply, eat and walk back out again.
I think I’m much safer with them than with any other group – statistically these contain at least 40% idiots. So I want to carry on with them.
Due to my injuries, 13 and Grasshopper are willing to wait a day. But 13’s got the 100 day target, which feels important for some reason, and, anyway, I’m not going to be the soft one who slows everyone down to shower and sleep in a real bed. So I buy some painkillers and other first aid stuff and on we go.
Burgers, pizza, 6 days of food from supermarket. 13 drinks half a gallon of chocolate milk and looks like he will certainly die from it – then we’re back on the trail, ready to start again tomorrow.
(For the record, I’ll note that we haven’t showered for a week at this point and now it will be another 10 days before I can. Unless bear creek counted.)
On the walk down to Mammoth…
Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).
Grateful for Californian legislation requiring restaurants to display calorie content on their menus – how would we know which was the highest calorie burger otherwise?
Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).